This invention relates generally to nailing apparatus and more particularly to nailing apparatus in which portable nailing guns supported by a carriage are operated in response to movement of the carriage along the surface structure to be nailed.
Hand-held nailing guns are well known in the prior art. Operation of such guns requires that the operator carry the full weight of the relatively heavy nailing guns and bend over to engage the surface of be nailed.
Various nailing apparatus have been designed to reduce the physical labor associated with nailing a surface with a nailing gun. U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,365 provides a carriage which carries a portable nailing gun. Basically, there is provided a frame supported on a pair of rear wheels with a single front wheel. The frame includes an upwardly extending handle permitting the operator to move the carriage along the surface. The forward portion of the frame carries a pivotal bracket on which is removably mounted a pneumatically operated portable nailing gun actuated through a camming mechanism associated with one of the rear wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,040 shows a deck nailing apparatus including a wheeled carriage for traversing a surface structure and a pair of spaced nail driving devices which are supported by the carriage in operative relationship to the surface. Control means are incorporated in the apparatus and coupled in controlled relationship with the nailing device to cause operation of the device in proportional relationship to the distance traversed by the apparatus. The control means comprises a cam wheel resiliently supported on the carriage to maintain rolling engagement with the surface traversed by the apparatus. The nailing guns are supported from outwardly extending arms.
There is a need for a nailing apparatus which can support a pair of guns in close side-by-side relationship to permit the nailing of the edges of adjacent panel sheets to a single underlying support joist or member. In most applications the nails must be driven to a precise depth with controlled spacing to pass building inspection and job engineer's requirements. There is, therefore, a need for a nailing apparatus in which the nail depth and spacing can be set and remain substantially fixed through a nailing job.